Srila Prabhupada Visits New Vrindaban – July 1st, 1976.
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Srila Prabhupada in New Vrindaban.

Srila Prabhupada in New Vrindaban.

Srila Prabhupada Visits New Vrindaban – July 1st, 1976.

Excerpt from Hari Sauri’s Trancendental Diary.

Prabhupada didn’t take a walk today and his Srimad-Bhagavatam discourse lasted only fifteen minutes. He is still weak and congested with mucus. But whether he speaks for a long time or a short one, he is potent and effective. He can make his point in a few words or extensively. His meaning is always clear.

The verses stated that no person bereft of knowledge of God has ever been able to free himself of material bondage. Prahlada therefore advised his young school friends to avoid the association of such persons and live only with the devotees of Narayana because their only goal of life is liberation from material existence.

Prabhupada told us that although the goal is to go back home, back to Godhead, if we have even a slight material desire then we may have to take birth on some higher planet. He said these were described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and he disparaged the scientists once again for their mechanical attempts to reach such places. “Very, very opulent, we cannot imagine even how they are opulent. The roads are made of pearls, diamonds, coral. And at the same time, no sinful man is admitted there. Everyone highly elevated, pious, there is no crookedness. There is no enviousness. You’ll find this description in the Eighth Canto, of Svargaloka.We cannot imagine even. But that is also within this material world. We can go there if we want to go. Just like they are trying, the modern so-called scientist, to go to the moon planet, Mars. According to sastra, these planets are bedecked with such descriptive facilities. They are also within the heavenly planets. But these rascals are going, and they find nobody there, and they take some dust and come back. This is their success. They do not know that they cannot enter even there. They are not meant for ordinary persons.”

Despite this opulence Prabhupada told us, the devotees are not at all interested to go there. They have a much higher destination. “They are interested to go to Vrndavana and become a grass there. This is devotee. Just like Uddhava, as soon as he entered Vrndavana, he immediately fell down on the road thinking that ‘On this street Krsna has walked, His friends have walked, there are footprints.’ So this is the ambition of a devotee. They are not interested for diamond roads or pearl roads, no.”

Therefore he said, a devotee avoids the association of those attracted to sense enjoyment, especially those who are attached to sex. He gave a one word summary of material existence and said that by correct association one becomes free of it. “We have several times explained. Pavarga, means material suffering. Pa means parisrama, always working hard, day and night. And pha, phena, foam coming out of my mouth. Pa, pha, ba, still baffled. Bha is fearfulness. Pa, pha, ba, bha and ma, mrtyu, at last, death. This is called pavarga. And apavarga means just to counteract this pavarga. So in one life if we try to associate with the devotees and engage in Narayana’s service sincerely. … Maybe a little difficult. There is no difficulty. Where is the difficulty? We can see practically. To chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra and take prasadam, is there any difficulty? There is no difficulty. It is so pleasing.”

His conclusion was that we should finish our business inmediately in this life. “Krsna consciousness means fully become detached with this material enjoyment, simply become engaged in Krsna’s service. Your life will be successful. Thank you very much.”

* * *

I brought some mango ice cream, made by the devotees, and Srila Prabhupada decided to have some. He doesn’t eat much of anything, and didn’t take a lot, but he liked it and he, Pusta Krsna, Pradyumna and myself chatted as he ate.

The conversation started out with more critique on the Mars probe. We supplied some details, culled from the newspapers and as always, Srila Prabhupada was entirely skeptical about what he termed as a childish attempt and a complete waste of money. He had said as much ten years ago, he told us, when they so-called went to the moon. Now, he said, there is no more talk of the moon yet so much money was spent. As far as he was concerned, they never went. He was only surprised that people so readily accept the scientists’ speculations. He laughed and said we were fools and rascals for believing them.

We had to agree that what they are doing is entirely pointless. I said there was no proper reason for any of it because they aren’t improving their actual living standards by their effort. I compared it to the jnani, who thinks advancement is just to simply acquire any amount of knowledge but without any practical use.

Srila Prabhupada agreed and immediately supplied a Sanskrit verse. “They are described: Klisyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye. Simply works hard simply to know things. No benefit. These rascals are like that.” He wasn’t just talking about the scientists either. “Yes, it is mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta. Any process you accept, rejecting devotional service, the result will be that there is no profit.” He said it was like beating the empty husks of rice. “You simply labor for nothing, as much as to beat the husk, you’ll never get the rice, it will simply be tiresome, that’s all. Just like so-called religion. There is no faith in God. There is no need of God, and ‘religion.’ This is nonsense. Religion means without God? This is going on. God, you can accept anyone — Ramakrishna Mission. He was a fool, illiterate rascal, Ramakrishna — he became ‘God.’ They have no standard, and they are propagating Ramakrishna Mission. As we are preaching Krsna is God, they are preaching Ramakrishna. And who’s accepting them? For the last hundred years, they are preaching. So who has become a devotee of Ramakrishna?”

Prabhupada said that when there is no idea of real religion, anything, even atheism, can be passed off as religion. He tipped his head toward the dictionary and told me to look up the meaning of religion.

I read out the definitions. “It says, ‘Religion. One. Monastic condition, being a monk or a nun, enter into a monastic order. Two. Practice of sacred rites. Three. One of the prevalent systems of faith and worship, i.e. Christian, Mohammedan, etc. Four. Human recognition of superhuman controlling power and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience; effect of such recognition on conduct and mental attitude.’”

Prabhupada nodded at this. “This is religion — personal conception of God.”

Then I read the final entry. “Action that one is bound to do.”

Prabhupada liked that also. “Yes. Everything is there. Anyone of them you take. ‘One is bound to do.’ Dharmena hina pasubhih samanah. If he does not do, then he’s animal. It must be done. There is no question of optional. If you are human being, you must be religious, you must recognize the supreme controller. Otherwise, you are animal. … Without reference to God, what is the meaning of sacred rites? Accepting the supreme controller. That is the real meaning. At least, Christian religion accepts God. Mohammedan religion accepts God, or Hindu religion accepts God. So without God how it can be religion? If there is no understanding of God, the conclusion comes that there is no religion. fictitious. We ‘trust in God,’ but do not know what is God. This is going on.

“So we have to fight against all this nonsense. Nonsense scientists, nonsense religionists. What do you think? It is not easygoing, sleeping business. We have to fight with so many demons.”

In this, his criticism stretched to his own Godbrothers. According to his spiritual master, Prabhupada said, if one does not go out and preach, he will simply beg, eat and sleep. “As all our Godbrothers are doing. They have got a little temple, and a few devotees go and beg rice and cook it and eat and sleep, that’s all.”

Pusta Krsna said it was like being dead.

“No fighting spirit,” Prabhupada said. He was neither facetious nor cynical, just quietly matter-of-fact. “Thakura dekhiya. Just make a Deity, and show. Our Tirtha Maharaja is doing that. His whole idea was, that ‘I have now captured the birthplace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu by high court favor. Now I have got everything. People will come and they will pay something and that will be my income for my family.’ A means of livelihood. He has no devotion. He wanted as a means of income, like the Vrndavana Gosvamis, Navadvipa Gosvamis do. Little devotion, automatically, there is. They are, after all, worshiping the Deity. But their purpose is different.”

He used New Vrindaban as a fitting comparison. “Just like we have established Radha-Vrndavanacandra, not that people will come and pay something. Who will come here? In this foreign country or in this secluded place? So our aim is to make the devotees, real devotees. Not for earning money. When we establish a center in a place like this, where is the idea of getting money?” He laughed. “Who will come here? One, it is a foreign country, nobody knows what is Krsna. And one has to come with so great difficulty, on the mountain. And who is coming to pay for it? After spending so much money, they will come here to pay?

“Our process is that wherever we stay we worship Krsna. As far as possible. That we are doing. Not for earning money but for spending money. Now Tirtha Maharaja is seeing that without getting Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s birthsite, Swami Maharaja [Prabhupada], he is attracting lakhs of people. Without the favor of high court, he is attracting. That is his envy. This year, you were not present [in Mayapur]?”

I thought he was referring to the outrageous tract Tirtha Maharaja had put out to proclaim his own success in attracting people from all over the world to Lord Caitanya’s birthsite.

Prabhupada though, wasn’t thinking of trivialities. He was thinking of the substance. “No, no,” Prabhupada said. “Apart from that leaflet — let him do whatever nonsense — but actually, on the birthday of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there was the greatest crowd in our temple.”

He also recalled our visit in April to Madhava Maharaja’s temple in Vrndavana. It was deserted. There were no visitors nor even any residents and when one man did come he had to unlock the Deity doors to allow us to have darsana. “And that is on the prominent roadside,” Prabhupada pointed out. “And our temple is off. Still, so many people are coming. Neither there were inhabitants nor their outsider, visitors. Gate was closed, we had to open and enter. And he constructed temple at least for the last twenty years.”

Pusta Krsna suggested it was because they have no vision for expanding their preaching.

Srila Prabhupada put it down to something more mundane. “They make this moneymaking machine. They do not know the money will automatically come if you are sincere. You haven’t got to make it a machine. Money Krsna will send. But they have no faith in Krsna. They have faith in their own ability. ‘Yes, we shall earn money in this way, by showing the Deity.’ They don’t recognize Krsna’s everything. They think, ‘By high court judgment, if we capture this place, then money will come.’”

He also had the same observation to make about the Ramakrishna Mission. He disapproves not only their concocted Mayavadi philosophy “all paths lead to the same goal [yata mat, tata path]” but also the false propaganda they put out in India that Vivekananda conquered the West with his preaching. “They are working here for the last hundred years. What they have done? So many American boys and gentlemen are coming to our temple, we cannot give them place. We have to find out some other … and who is going to the Ramakrishna temple? If actually Vivekananda preached something, out of inquisitiveness they would have gone there — ‘We have heard so much about Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. Let us see what is there.’ Nobody goes. They do not know even the name. And we are already advertised all over the world, Hare Krsna movement. At least, everyone knows. Who knows Ramakrishna, Vivekananda?

“Just stick to this principle, then you will be successful. Bhaktim sreyah-srtim. That is the real welfare. Sreyah-srtim means ‘expands auspicity.’” He turned to the beautiful painting of baby Krsna and Nanda Maharaja. “And they want to become one with God. And here is not one, but God is so lower that He carries the shoe of His devotee.” He smiled. “Have they got any conception like this?”

* * *

As per his regular routine, when Srila Prabhupada awakens from his afternoon nap, we are offering him a fresh flower garland, some fruit juice and sandalwood paste for his forehead. The garlands are made from local wildflowers, which His Divine Grace likes a lot. Pusta Krsna Swami and I had a short chat with him today after he went into his study room. He mused a little on the questions he answered yesterday about the jnanis and the bhaktas. He was frank about all the gurus and swamis who have become so prominent in the West recently. “They do not know what is bhakti, what is Vedanta. They do not know. Simply aspiring, all after women and money, that’s all. I know all of them, all first-class rogues, after money and women.”

Because they are popular, he said, it was difficult to speak the truth about them because the public are also foolish rascals.

Pusta Krsna said he thought all of the others are trying to make some compromise.

Srila Prabhupada chuckled. “I don’t make any compromise. All my speaking is also no compromise. Here is guru, here is Krsna, here is God, here is Vedanta. Real version they neglect, and they stick to the rascal’s version, Sankara’s version, Sariraka-bhasya. All over India, they are reading Sariraka-bhasya.”

I asked him that since Ramanujacarya is well known in India, why don’t people read his commentary on Vedanta.

“They hate Ramanujacarya because he’s Vaisnava,” Prabhupada said.

“Because he doesn’t allow them to speculate,” I said.

Prabhupada nodded. “He is very strict. He is a stubborn enemy of Sankaracarya. All the Vaisnava acaryas. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, declare it: ‘If you hear the interpretation of Mayavadis, then you are doomed.’ You have no hope for spiritual advancement. This is the statement. finished, your spiritual life is finished.” He told Pusta Krsna, “You can write this also, that Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction is strictly to avoid the so-called Vedantists.”

Prabhupada remained in his room and finished the questions and answers from Bhavan’s Journal. The first one of the session, question ten, caught my attention. It asked, “Will mantras lose their sanctity or holiness if they are not in the Sanskrit language?”

Srila Prabhupada explained that they are transcendental sounds and cannot be changed. “The sound must be vibrated. You cannot translate it. The sound as it is … Just like Hare Krsna maha-mantra, the sound must be produced. You cannot translate. Then it will be artha-vada [speculative interpretation]. That is prohibited. You cannot interpret or do other way … The sound vibration must be there. Then it will continue in sanctity.”

Pusta Krsna asked for clarification. “Is that to say the mantras can be written in Devanagari script or in Roman letters, but the sound must be the same?”

“Yes,” Prabhupada said. “The sound is important.”

It was another lengthy session. Altogether there are five hours of recordings. Now Pusta Krsna has to transcribe and edit them before sending them back to India.

The Lord is the most affectionate mother
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The baby in the lap of his mother is naturally attached to the mother, and the mother is attached to the child. But when the child grows up and becomes overwhelmed by circumstances, he gradually becomes detached from the mother, although the mother always expects some sort of service from the grown-up child and is equally affectionate toward her child, even though the child is forgetful. Similarly, because we are all part and parcel of the Lord, the Lord is always affectionate to us, and He always tries to get us back home, back to Godhead. But we, the conditioned souls, do not care for Him and run instead after the illusory bodily connections.

- Srimad Bhagavatam 2.2.6 purport

Audio Albums – Support Kadamba Kanana Swami & KKSBlog
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Waves of Mercy CD coverKadamba Kanana Swami has been attracting people everywhere with his empowered singing for years. Since 2000, several recordings have been made and the first CD produced was an album called Vaisnava Seva. The latest albums from 2013 are “Waves of Mercy” and “Live at Heart & Soul Yoga“.

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Gadadhara Pandit Dasa: Transcending the Quarter-life Crises (and all other ones too!)
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The term is similar to a mid-life crisis, but it refers to the plight of students in school or right out of college trying to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. When I ask senior students if they know about their plans after they graduate, they give me a consistently similar response: "I have no idea." Read more ›

The nonviolent violence of the Gita
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The battlefield setting of the Gita often prompts people to ask the question: “How can God instruct a peace-seeking person to fight a deadly war that caused so much suffering?”

The Gita (05.29) unequivocally declares that Krishna is the greatest well-wisher of all living beings. He never wants to cause anyone any suffering; in fact, he wants to end all sufferings of everyone. And his instructions are meant to promote that benevolent purpose.

Let us understand this by looking at a paradoxical instruction of Krishna. In the Gita (11.55), he asks Arjuna to work for him (mat-karma krn) and to never bear malice towards anyone (nirvairah sarva-bhuteshu). For Arjuna to do Krishna’s work meant fighting the war against the Kauravas headed by Duryodhana. How could he fight without malice? In other words, how could he be nonviolently violent?

The fact is that neither Krishna nor Arjuna desired to harm Duryodhana – the war was their last recourse to protect Duryodhana from his selfish lower nature that was harming himself and everyone else, including the Pandavas.

Gita wisdom explains that all of us have a selfless higher nature, our spiritual side, and a selfish lower nature, our material side. Krishna wants us to triumph over our lower nature, as the Gita (03.43) urges, and thereby do good to ourselves as well as everyone else. To help us win our inner war, he shares spiritual knowledge (Gita 04.01). And he also personally descends (04.09) to protect dharma which is essentially the means to apply that spiritual knowledge and thereby win the inner war. An integral part of dharma is to act as the well-wisher of all living beings, as the Gita (12.13) exhorts, and help them win their individual inner wars. Thus, from the enlightened spiritual perspective, everyone is our on our side – everyone is like us, pure souls pitted against their lower natures.

Unfortunately, in this war, the lower nature so seduces some people that they fight for it instead of against it. Such misled people rebuff all counsel intended to help them see how they are ruining themselves by their defection. Duryodhana was a tragic example of such an individual whose greed so dominated and perverted him that he shamelessly perpetrated grievous injustices against the Pandavas. Not only that, he scornfully rejected the counsel affectionate elders like Vidura and Bhishma, venerable sages like Vyasa and Maitreya, and even the Supreme Lord, Krishna, who accepted the menial post of a peace messenger in a last-ditch effort to avoid bloodshed.

In fact, the Mahabharata describes in an entire section, the Udyoga Parva [The Book of Effort], the vigorous efforts of the Pandavas to avoid war. And after the war, the longest section of the Mahabharata entitled Shanti Parva describes elaborate guidelines for the king to rule justly and thereby do everything possible to maintain peace.

But despite the best efforts, some people like Duryodhana are so bent on gratifying their lower nature that only the surgical treatment of capital punishment can redeem their lost souls. For such extreme situations, the Gita does not fight shy of recommending physical warfare. But even while fighting such an unavoidable war, it urges us to not let animosity blind us to spiritual reality, as is demonstrated in the Gita’s call (11.55) to Arjuna to do his prescribed duty of fighting and yet not give in to animosity. The Pandavas honored the Gita’s call for nonviolent violence, as is evident in their arranging after the war for a respectable funeral of the Kauravas for their spiritual welfare.

For most of us, this nonviolent violence doesn’t have to ever express itself as physical violence. Our relationship conflicts hardly ever warrant drastic actions like violence. For resolving such conflicts, Gita wisdom urges us to remember that we are not fighting against people, but are fighting against their lower nature. This insight can deter us from malevolent responses that will involve our succumbing to our lower nature and making a bad situation worse. By remembering that others are like us in that they are also battling their lower nature, we can direct our nonviolent violence against our lower nature. We can choose mature responses that express our higher nature, thereby doing our best to improve the situation. And we may well be surprised how often our choosing to honor our higher nature will inspire others to similarly act according to their higher nature, thereby dramatically improving the prospects of a win-win resolution.

Thus the Gita’s insight that we are all on the same side in the inner war and the Gita’s call for nonviolent violence in this war is the strongest foundation for sustainable peace.

“Simply supplying food is nonsense”
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Srila Prabhupada wanted to distribute prasadam (spiritual food) along with spiritual education. He wrote:

“If we open a branch in Madras, actually there are so many poor children there. Spiritual education and food, that is proper. Simply supplying food is nonsense.” (letter to Gurudasa, 13 May 1972)

Hare Krishna.

The post “Simply supplying food is nonsense” appeared first on Jayadvaita Swami.

Thursday, November 21st, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

Get Clean

Toronto, Ontario

After a long day at a desk and a phone (for one hour with students) I took an evening trek west on Bloor Street.  I unwound, I reflected.

There’s a neighbourliness to this segment of the street right up to include Little Korea and the Christie Pitts Park where a magnificent large image of a tiger is lit up in the dark.  On my return I popped into a place of shop owners, one of those east Indian trinket and clothing shops.  I’ve known the family for years.  I stepped in.  They looked a little morose, I wondered why.

“Lots of merchandise, no customers,” complained Mrs. Agarwal.  I could not verbally be critical of their place, only in the mind, I am their priest after all.  They demonstrated their natural reverential side, however.  I couldn’t help noticing that if there was a little more effort towards a smart displaying of the goods, there might be some customers.  It’s Christmas time, presentation is practically everything if you want to sell something.

Again, I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything.  I wanted to help in some way.  Even though they seemed to be struggling with their sales, their natural piety came through.   Mrs. Agarwal handed me an envelope which had a donation as the content inside.  It came from the heart.  It’s in the Indian culture to give to a sahdu (monk) when they see one.  The mentality is, “A holy man came into my shop, how auspicious.”  Of course, I don’t feel that way about myself, I have a lot of karma that I’m carrying.  I’m not particularly clean, but I can say that I’m strict with principles, no intoxications touch my lips or enter my blood stream.  No meat meets my belly.  No gambling engages my hands, and no sex.  These principals keep me protected.  In that way, there’s less contamination in my being, I guess you could say.  Thank Krishna.

I thank the Agarwals for their time, their kind words and gift.  I was left to trek back and in that time of contemplation, remembered what one personal friend from the States today said on the phone, “When my wife and I did our marriage vows 30 years ago, we promised we would never raise our voice at each other.”

Well, they’ve been doing it.  Sounds like a pretty clean program they’ve got going on.  That’s exactly what I told the students that came from Kingston today.  Our purpose in this world is to get clean.

May the Source be with you!

5 KM